COMMUNITY MEDICINE
(including Health Education and Family Medicine)
Instructions in this course should be given in the Fourth year of medical studies by lectures, demonstrations
and field studies. This subject is of utmost importance, and throughout the period of medical studies the
attention of the student should be directed to the importance of preventive medicine and the measures for the
promotion of positive health.
His function is not limited merely to prescribing homoeopathic medicines for curative purposes but he has a
wider role to play, in the community. He has to be well conversant with the national health problems both or
rural as well as urban areas, so that he can be assigned responsibilities to play as effective role not only in
the filed of curative but also of preventive and social medicine including family planning.
1. Introduction to preventive and social medicine concept, man and society: aim and scope of preventive and
social medicine, social causes of disease and social problems or the sick, relation of economic factors and
environment in health and disease.
2. Physiological hygiene:1. Food and nutrition-food in relation to health and disease. Balanced diets. Nutritional deficiencies and
nutritional survey. Food processing, pasteurization of milk. Adulteration of food and food inspection,
Food poisoning.
2. Air, light and sunshine.
3. Effect of climate-humidity temperature, pressure and other meteorological
4. conditions-comfort zone, effect of overcrowding.
5. Personal hygiene- (Cleanliness, rest, sleep, work) Physical exercise and training care of health in
tropics.
3. Environmental sanitation:
1. Definition and importance.
2. Atmospheric pollution-purification or air, air sterilization, air borne diseases.
3. Water supplies-sources and uses, impurities and purification. Public water supplies in urban and rural
areas. Standards of drinking water, water borne diseases.
4. Conservancy-Methods in villages, towns and cities, septic tanks, dry earth latrines-water closets.
Disposal of sewage, disposal of the deceased, disposal of refuge incineration.
5. Sanitation of fairs and festivals.
6. Disinfection disinfectants, deodorants, antiseptics, germicides. Methods of disinfection and
sterilization.
7. Insects-insecticides and disinfection-insects in relation to disease. Insect control.
8. Protozoal and helminthic diseases Life cycle of protozoan and helminthes, their prevention.
4. Medical Statistics
Principles and elements of vital statistics
Preventive Medicine
1. General principles of prevention and control of communicable diseases. Plague, Cholera, Small Pox
Diphtheria, Leprosy, Tuberculosis, Malaria, Kala-Azar, Filariasis, Common viral diseases e.g.
Common Cold Measles, Chicken Pox, Poliomyelitis, Infective Hepatitis, Helminthic infections,
Enteric fever, dysenteries and also animal diseases transmissible to man. Their description and
methods of preventive spread by contact, by droplet infection by environmental vehicles, (water,
soil, food insects, animals, foundries, prophylaxis and vaccination).
2. General principles of prevention and control of non-communicable diseases e.g. obesity,
hypertension etc.
Natural history of disease
5. Maternal and Child Health, school health services, health education, mental hygiene-elementary
principles: school medicine its aim and methods.
6. Family Planning Demography, channels of communication, National Family planning programme,
knowledge, attitudes regarding contraceptive practices. Population and growth control.
7. Public health administration and international health relation.
8. Homoeopathic concept of prophylaxis, vaccination, Immunology and personal hygiene.
N.B: Field demonstration-water purification plant, infectious diseases hospital etc.